The All-American Canal Lining Dispute: An American Resolution over Mexican Groundwater Rights?

Resumen

Abstract

Recently, resistance to the All-American Canal Lining Project came from both sides of the border as a coalition of economic and environmental groups which used the United States legalsystem in an attempt to block the loss of water upon which a fragile ecosystem and Mexican farmers depend. Ultimately, theLining Project was given official sanction by the US Congress following only superficial consultation with Mexico. This article examines and contrasts the legal framework within which the decision was made with popular understandings and explanations of the process as held by the Mexicali Valley’s water managers. With important implications for future compensation claims and cross-border dispute resolution, it concludes that the decision to litigate in US courts did not formally include a key group, the agricultural water users of the Mexicali Valley. Nevertheless, the decision about the management of what had been understood by many, on both sides of the border, as a binational resource was made by the United States.

Texto completo:

Referencias

Brandt, Mary, “Diplomatic Function of the International Boundary and Water Commission and the Relationship between the US Section and the Department of State”, Presentation to ibwc Citizens’ Forum, Las Cruces, New Mexico, November 2, 2005.

________, “Looking Across the Canal: Reflections on Visions and Policies on Water Issues in the United States”, in V. Sánchez Munguía, edit., The USMexican Border Environment: Lining the All-American Canal: Competition or Cooperation for Water in the US-Mexican Border?, San Diego, sdsu/scerp/El Colef, scerp

Monograph Series No. 13, 2006, pp. 129-154.

García Saillé, Gerardo, A. López López, and J. A. Navarro Urbina, “Lining the All American Canal: Its Impact on Aquifer Water Quality and crop Yield in Mexicali Valley”, in V. Sánchez Munguía, edit., The US-Mexican Border Environment: Lining the All-American Canal: Competition or Cooperation for Water in the US-Mexican Border?, San Diego, sdsu/scerp/El Colef, scerp Monograph Series No. 13, 2006, pp. 77-100.

Max, Anthony, “Mexico Asks the United States to stay executions in the US”, San Diego Union Tribune, June 5, 2008, available at < http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20080605-1303-mexicanexecutions-us.html>, consulted on June 5, 2008.

Medina Robles, Fernando A., “The Colorado River and the All-American Canal: The Historical and Cultural Perspective of Water in the US Southwest”, in V.